Laura Sanko’s profile fits many of the points one would expect, she admits, of someone from a supportive background who is set up for success.

Her father is a well-known economic development executive. She was “brainy” at her small, private school. She played the piano, even originally attending college with the intention of majoring in piano performance. She was involved in training and showing horses.

She was quickly successful in public relations and became an entrepreneur (one business described as, “Think of it like Netflix for jewelry,” and another as, “We work in grass-fed beef.”).

It was when that side of her life saw significant bumps that she turned to her longtime, less obvious passion: combat sports.

A fan of martial arts since her first viewing of “The Karate Kid,” Sanko drove her enthusiasm for fighting into MMA training and competition. After winning her professional debut at Invicta FC 4 on earlier this month, Sanko remains signed with Invicta and is awaiting the details of her next bout.

“There’s something about that first pro fight, knowing this is the one that counts,” Sanko told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “It was phenomenal. I was thrilled with the opportunity to work with a promotion like Invicta, and it’s been such an incredible experience.”

The 30-year-old Kansas City, Mo. resident, who studied karate while in high school but put it on hold as she started her advanced studies and career path, still works on her own business. She’s also pursuing her new professional fighting career, which started quickly with a second-round submission after a five-fight amateur career.

The career continues a balance that Sanko has experienced since she was a child: the more usual and expected girly attributes vs. the closet badass.

“People definitely would not have expected me to be doing this,” she said.

Growing up, standing out

Sanko was born in Illinois but moved with her family to Kansas City when her father got a new job when she was about 7 years old. By then, she already had a budding love for karate because, basically, she wanted to be Daniel LaRusso from “The Karate Kid.”

Her father helped that growing interest when he returned from one of his travels to the Orient for work and presented her with a gi, which she proudly wore as a 4- or 5-year-old. While her parents encouraged her in all of her endeavors, like school, piano and horses, her older brother and his friends provided an element of toughness.

They didn’t push her away, like some older brothers and kids might. They accepted her into their male group.

“I was like the mascot,” she said.

By the time she was in high school, and as she participated in sports for school (she says with a laugh that she was not a noticeable athlete at the time, but her school was so small they needed bodies to populate the teams), she was also training in karate.

Then life turned back to its more traditional path. She went to college, changed her major from piano performance to business, and joined a global public relations firm before rising to be the youngest senior account executive in her branch’s history.

But she always had an entrepreneurial spirit, which nudged her into joining a start-up company that involved pitching possible investors on the idea of a business that basically rented diamond jewelry in the way that Netflix rents videos, by mail. At one point, she pitched Sean Parker, the innovator played by Justin Timberlake in the movie, “The Social Network.”

She later left that business to start her own, which produces and sells grass-fed beef to businesses.

But while she was on that path, Sanko continued to hold her interest in combat sports, which emerged during difficult times in her life.

Becoming a fighter

The first major disappointment of Sanko’s life was her divorce, which came not long after college following just six months of marriage. It felt like a major failure for someone who grew up in a religious family and had been successful in most things.

She turned her frustration and stress into motivation to rejoin a gym. She worked out regularly and one day spotted a well-known Kansas City MMA fighter named Rob Kimmons. She approached him and asked if he could help her enter MMA training. The other guy with Kimmons snickered, later admitting he didn’t believe Sanko could do it.

Later, after on-and-off MMA training, Sanko agreed to move to New York City as part of her commitment to the jewelry company. It was another stressful experience. Again facing frustration, she found another gym and re-committed to MMA training.

By the time she moved back to Kansas City in mid-2009, she knew she wanted MMA to be a major part of her life. She found her home gym in Grindhouse under coaches Jason Krause, Brian Davidson, Austen Ford and Tim Elliot, who encouraged her to go beyond training and take some amateur fights.

It was exhilarating, and by the time she completed five amateur fights, she was ready to be a professional. She signed a multi-fight deal with Invicta and appeared on the Invicta 4 card at Kansas City’s Memorial Hall, where she had fought as an amateur.

After beating Cassie Robb by rear-naked choke in the second round, she confirmed her belief that she belonged in professional fighting. Now she’s waiting for her next chance with her old passion.

“I wasn’t totally happy, and I know I have a lot more to give,” she said. “But I was happy it ended like it did. I would like to be someone who finishes because that’s a more exciting fight, and I want to be an exciting fighter.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.

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